Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

But fince, alas! frail beauty must decay, 25
Carl'd or uncurl'd, fince Locks will turn to grey;
Since painted, or not painted, all fhall fade,
And the who scorns a man, must die a maid;
What then remains, but well our pow'r to use,
And keep good-humour still whate'er we lofe?
And truft me, dear! good-humour can prevail,
When airs, and flights, and screams, and fcolding
fail.

Beauties in vain their pretty eyes may roll;

30

Charms strike the fight, but merit wins the foul.
So fpoke the Dame, but no applaufe enfu'd; 35
Belinda frown'd, Thaleftris call'd her Prude.
To arms, to arms! the fierce Virago cries,
And swift as lightning to the combat flies:
All fide in parties, and begin th' attack ;

41

Fans clap, filks rufsle, and tough whalebones crack
Heroes and Heroines fhouts confus'dly rife,
And bafe, and treble voices ftrike the skies.
No common weapons in their hands are found,
Like Gods they fight, nor dread a mortal wound

So when bold Homer makes the Gods engage,
And heav'nly breafts with human paffions rage;

'Gainft

VER. 45. So when bold Homer] Homer, Il. xx.

VARIATIONS.

P.

VER. 37. To arms, to arms!] From hence the first Edition goes on to the Conclufion, except a very few short infertions added, to keep the Machinery in view to the end of the poem.

P.

IMLTATIONS.

VER. 35. So fpoke the Dame,] It is a verfe frequently repeated in Homer after any speech,

Se poke and all the Heroes applauded.

P.

47

'Gainft Pallas, Mars; Latona, Hermes arms;
And all Olympus rings with loud alarms :
Jove's thunder roars, heav'n trembles all around,
Blue Neptune ftorms, the bellowing deeps refound:
Earth shakes her nodding tow'rs, the ground gives

way,

And the pale ghofts start at the flash of day!

Triumphant Umbriel on a fconce's height
Clap'd his glad wings, and fate to view the fight:
Prop'd on their bodkin fpears, the Sprites survey
The growing combat, or affift the fray.

While thro' the prefs enrag'd Thalestris flies,
And scatters death around from both her eyes,
A Beau and Witling perish'd in the throng,
One dy'd in metaphor, and one in song.
"Oh cruel nymph! a living death I bear,
Cry'd Dapperwit, and funk befide his chair.
A mournful glance Sir Fopling upwards caft,
"Those eyes are made so killing-was his last.
Thus on Mæander's flow'ry margin lies
Th' expiring Swan, and as he fings he dies.

[ocr errors]

56

60

65

When bold Sir Plume had drawn Clariffa down, Chloe stepp'd in, and kill'd him with a frown;

M 2
VARIATIONS.

She

VER. 53. Triumphant Umbriel] These four lines added, for the reafon before mentioned. P.

IMITATIONS.

VER. 53. Triumphant Umbriel] Minerva in like manner, during the Battle of Ulyffes with the, Suitors in Odyff. perches on a beam of the roof to behold it. P. VER. 64, Thofe eyes are made fo killing] The words of a Song in the Opera of Camilla.

P.

VER. 65. Thus on Mæander's flow'ry margin lies]
Sic ubi fata vocant, udis abjectus in herbis,

Ad vada Maandri concinit albus olor. Ov. Ep. P.

.to

She fmil'd to see the doughty heroe flain,
But, at her smile, the Beau reviv'd again.

Now Jove fufpends his golden fcales in air,
Weighs the Mens wits against the Lady's hair;
The doubtful beam long nods from fide to fide;
At length the wits mount up, the hairs fubfide.

See fierce Belinda on the Baron flies,
With more than usual lightning in her eyes:
Nor fear'd the Chief th' unequal fight to try,
Who fought no more than on his fʊe to die.
But this bold Lord with manly strength endu❜d,
She with one finger and a thumb subḍu'd:
Juft where the breath of life his noftrils drew,
A charge of Snuff the wily virgin threw;
The Gnomes direct, to ev'ry atom just,
The pungent grains of titillating duft.

70

75

80

Sudden, with starting tears each eye o'erflows, 85
And the high dome re-echoes to his nose.
Now meet thy fate, incens'd Belinda cry'd,
And drew a deadly bodkin from her fide.
(The fame, his ancient personage to deck,
Her great great grandfire wore about his neck,
In three feal-rings; which after, melted down,
Form'd a vaft buckle for his widow's gown:
Her infant grandame's whistle next it grew,
The bells fhe jingled, and the whistle blew ;

90

Then

VER. 71 Now Jove, etc.] Vid. Homer II. viii, and
Virg. Æn. xii.

P.

ΙΜΙΤΑΤΙΘ Ν 3.

VER 83. The Gnames direct,] These two lines added
for the above reason.

P.

VER. 89. The fame, his ancient perfonage to deck ] In
imitation of the progrefs of Agamemnon's fceptre in
Homer, II. ii.

P.

6

Then in a bodkin grac'd her mother's hairs,
Which long the wore, and now Belinda wears.)

95

100

Boaft not my fall (he cry'd) infulting foe! Thou by fome other shalt be laid as low. Nor think, to die dejects my lofty mind : All that I dread is leaving you behind! Rather than fo, ah let me ftill furvive, And burn in Cupid's flames,-but burn alive. Reftore the Lock! fhe cries; and all around Reftore the Lock! the vaulted roofs rebound. Not fierce Othello in fo loud a strain Roar'd for the handkerchief that caus'd his pain. But fee how oft ambitious aims are cross'd, And chiefs contend 'till all the prize is loft! The Lock, obtain'd with guilt, and kept with pain, In ev'ry place is fought, `but fought in vain: With fuch a prize no mortal must be blest, So heav'n decrees! with heav'n who can contest?

105

110

Some thought it mounted to the Lunar sphere, Since all things loft on earth are treafur'd there. There Hero's wits are kept in pond'rous vafes, And Beau's in fnuff-boxes and tweezer-cafes. 116 There broken vows, and death-bed alms are found, And lovers hearts with ends of ribband bound, The courtier's promifes, and fick man's pray'rs, The fmiles of harlots, and the tears of heirs, Cages for gnats, and chains to yoak a flea, Dry'd butterflies, and tomes of casuistry.

But truft the Mufe-fhe faw it upward rise, Tho' mark'd by none, but quick, poetic eyes;

M 3

120

(So

VER. 114. Since all things loft] Vid. Ariofto. Canto

[blocks in formation]

(So Rome's great founder to the heav'ns withdrew, To Proculus alone confefs'd in view)

A fudden Star, it shot thro' liquid air,
And drew behind a radiant trail of hair.
Not Berenice's Locks firft rofe fo bright,

126

The heav'ns befpangling with difhevel'd light. 130 The Sylphs behold it kindling as it flies,

And pleas'd pursue its progress thro' the skies.

This the Beau monde fhall from the Mall furvey, And hail with mufic its propitious ray.

135

This the bleft Lover fhall for Venus take,
And fend
up vows from Rofamonda's lake.
This Partridge foon fhall view in cloudless skies,
When next he looks thro' Galilæo's eyes;
And hence th' egregious wizard fhall foredoom
The fate of Louis, and the fall of Rome.
Then ceafe, bright Nymph! to mourn thy ra-
vish'd hair,

Which adds new glory to the fhining sphere!
Not all the treffes that fair head can boast,
Shall draw such envy as the Lock you loft.

140

For,

VER. 137. This Partridge foon] John Partridge was a ridiculous Star-gazer, who in his Almanacks every year never fail'd to predict the downfal of the Pope, and the King of France, then at war with the English, P. VARIATIONS.

VER. 131. The Sylphs behold] Thefe two lines added for the fame reason to keep in view the Machinery of the Foem. P.

VER. 128.

Stella micat.

IMITATIONS.

Flammiferumque trahens fpatiofo limite crinem

Ovid.

« ZurückWeiter »